Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Cook could provide relief

The Red Sox are going to have a decision to make on Aaron Cook, who makes his final start at Triple-A Pawtucket tonight. The righty has an opt-out clause he can exercise if he’s not activated by the early portion of next week.

With no vacancies in the starting rotation, manager Bobby Valentine and pitching coach Bob McClure said that Cook might be an option out of the bullpen, something that didn’t seem feasible back in Spring Training.

“Bob McClure thinks that after talking with him that it’s feasible,” said Valentine. “Initially there was no [consideration]. I think I told you guys initially in Spring Training, that was a nonfactor. It was a non consideration. Reports are that he’s never felt better about his shoulder, or he hasn’t felt this good about his shoulder in a long time.”

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7 Comments

I think Cook in the Pen would be a good addition especially with his Sinker ! could be a multi inning guy kinda the way Aceves was last year. Also could provide a 6th Starter potential as well ! What will be happening when DIce K’s rehab is up though?

I know this is not related to this story, but just an odd observation….. How often has it happened where all teams (min. 20 games) in a division have had a .500 record or better? If it is the case, how far into the season has it gone when the same occurred? Thanks in advance for the response..
Serv

I’m glad we still have Cook on the roster, either for spot-starts (like he’ll do for Beckett) or for relief/ BP work. I would hope he’d remain on the Red Sox’ roster (not the PawSox)– he can’t do a whole lot worse (if he’s healthy) than the rest of the pitching staff has done to date. Tazawa has shown some promise, getting a 3 IP save, and Rich Hill’s return should bolster the BP. As shaky as our pitching (starters and BP) has been, we need all the help we can get– incl. Cook. GO SOX!

Today, Cook needs to provide relief because the Red Sox cannot win at the friendly confines anymore. Remember when the Red Sox would dominate at Fenway Park?

What a strange season to this point. The bullpen at the beginning of the season was awful. Within the last couple weeks the bullpen has been solid. The Red Sox offense is like Wall Street– “up” and “down”.

When will Bobby V. have Sweeney start against a lefty? Only way you will find out if he can hit lefties is give some hacks against a southpaw.

Also, the Red Sox catching situation is ugly. I don’t think Kelly Shoppach could hit .300 in a softball league. He might be the only player in the big leagues that could swing and miss if a ball was on a hitting tee. He’s dead weight on this team. Only time Shoppach should play is when Beckett starts because we all know Beckett needs his binkie. Shoppach is so bad he almost makes Salty look good out there. I’m guessing we will see Ryan Lavarnway in the near future. At this rate, I would take Marc Sullivan.

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